Hello members, I am post surgery 1 week of having my pouch hooked up and I am struggling with holding my pouch to prevent leakage and the number of times I am going on an hourly basis.
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Hi, Mark. This is normal when your pouch is connected and starting to work. If you have the urge to go and it is uncomfortable, just go. Don't try to hold it. You can learn to do that in the days and weeks to come (learning to hold a little longer each time so that your pouch can stretch a bit). For now, after your system has been through so much, just go when you feel the urge. Don't be uncomfortable. Your new pouch is learning what to do. Remember that it used to be your small intestine and its only job was to absorb nutrients for you. Now it has to hold stool and expected to act like a colon. That's confusing! Take it slowly, give yourself and your new "colon" time to learn this new life. Chew all your food very well so that it reaches your pouch well pulverized. Avoid raw vegetables, nuts, seeds, spicy foods and sugar for now. Introduce these things slowly until you know how your pouch will accept it. Good luck with your new pouch.
Thank you very much, regards
Mark
The first few weeks with a j-pouch are 'difficult' to say the least. I wasn't prepared for how it would behave after surgery at all. It definitely isn't like a healthy colon in the beginning.
That said, you begin to try and thicken things up by using psyllium husks, eating soluble fiber foods - like oatmeal, and thickening foods in general - like peanut butter, cheese, potatoes. As Winterberry said, go easy on the sugar. I can cause pouchitis. I'd also suggest you try Imodium tablets to help slow things down. You can take up to 8 a day.
If things continue to 'flow' without slowing down, I'd contact my GI or surgeon and get checked out. You might have a case of pouchitis that can be treated with antibiotics.
Hang in there! With time your j pouch will begin to adjust and life will get back to a 'normal'.